Curro flags earnings growth by more than 3%
JOHANNESBURG - Private education group Curro expects headline earnings to rise by more than a third in its year to end-December, amid higher student numbers, a state subsidy, and a lower corporate tax rate.
Headline earnings per share (Heps) is expected to rise by between 40.4 per cent and 60.1 per cent, the group said in an update, while non-recurring Heps - which excludes certain on-off items is expected to rise by between 25.9 per cent and 45.5 per cent.
Curro’s Meridian subsidiary received ‘long-overdue’ education subsidy income from provincial government of R29 million during the year, which is treated as non-recurring; with the group also set to benefit from a change in the corporate tax rate to 27 per cent from 28 per cent.
The group also incurred a write down of lower-yielding school assets of R129 million.
The group said experienced strong enrolment interest in 2023 and had 72 835 registered learners on February 10, 2023, compared to 70 408 learners on February 23, 2022.
“Management’s disciplined termination of long overdue accounts restrained the overall learner growth from the previous year, but we are confident that this responsible approach will sustain and improve the group’s operating margin,” it said.
Fallen
Curro’s shares were up 1.12 per cent in early trade on Monday, but have fallen almost a third on a one-year basis.
Anglo American Platinum has flagged a profit fall of as much as half for its year to end-December, reflecting the extended build at its Polokwane smelter, as well as a draw down in inventory in the prior period.
Headlien earnings are likely to decrease by between 33 per cent and 52 per cent to end December, Amplats said in a trading update, amid a two per cent increase in the Rand basket price of its metals, but a 26 per cent fall in volumes.
The prior period benefitted from an increase in refined production due to a strong performance from the ACP Phase A unit following its rebuild and recommissioning in November 2020 and consequent increase in work- in-progress in 2020. As a result, there was additional drawdown of about one million PGM ounces from work-in-progress inventory. In addition, the second half of 2022 was impacted by the planned structural rebuild of the Polokwane smelter – a process that was extended by approximately two months following the receipt of sub-standard materials.
Inflationary pressures led to higher mining and processing costs, partially offset by a decrease in purchase-of-concentrate costs due to lower receipts, the group said.
Shares in Amplats were up 0.18 per cent in early trade.